


the one waiting in the flower shop

by etherealities



Series: a universe of love [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: I love symbolism, M/M, a whole damn lot, and they love each other, but we love them anyway, cawllection, it was written over a long time sorry if it's disjointed rip, it's cute, kun is whipped, lots of references, lov u guys, nct angst, symbolism on fleek if i say so myself, taeil is whipped, they're both dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 06:31:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealities/pseuds/etherealities
Summary: there was something a little magical about him. he had to be a fairy, right? no way someone so perfect could be real, no way could he be in love with kun, the florist who just held a daffodil out in hopes of being noticed.playlist





	the one waiting in the flower shop

**Author's Note:**

> ahh sorry this took so long! enjoy!

he went to france when he was nineteen, leaving behind his corner of the world, the young boy with the universe in his eyes.

he left without regrets, with the sort of peace that comes with moving on. he left without a plan of how he'd live, just that he'd go along however he was able.

he left with a sense of freedom, in that there was no one who could tether him down. he was his own being, and no one would stop him from living his life as what made him happy.

and so he lived, working and studying, the language of love soon becoming familiar on his tongue. for the first month, he stayed close in contact with his home, with his little yellow prince who missed him daily and was missed with the same intensity.

"brother," he'd ask, "are you coming back for the summer?" he could never settle, so he'd reply, "we'll see. why don't you come, instead?" and they'd continue, never deciding who would visit. they told each other about the trivial things, about how the moonchild had discovered his angelic voice, or how the stars looked even more beautiful since three days ago. neither one minded the distance; they were as close as if they still lived one wall apart.

after two months, they only talked of important news and less of the trivial topics, with more and more comfortable silence. neither one minded; they were still as close as it could be, living across the world from each other.

after four months, he was able to tell his little yellow prince about the fairy he'd seen in the city. "his eyes are like the lights in your room - they make everything feel more like home." and renjun would smile, and tell him that he should go and look closer, see what other lights are hiding there. and kun would laugh, and tell renjun to find his own stars before advising kun on his.

time passed.

kun found that his fairy had a name that felt beautiful when he said it, and a voice that was even more enthralling than the sparkles dancing in his eyes. that same voice managed to make his own name into something melodic and entrancing, and all kun seemed to want was to watch taeil as he made everything around him a little more magical. the fairy and the prince gently got to know each other, studying both their classes and the opposite person. the two of them fit together, an artic night's dance.

it wasn't yin and yang, it wasn't the sun and moon. it was more like something written and something said aloud, like magic and a midsummer's day.

the longer they knew each other, the more in love they fell. they started to exchange casual glances, light laughter when they caught the other looking at them.

six months went by.

kun made other friends, of course. he met a younger boy named mark who always reminded him of renjun, and took him under his wing. with mark came his older brother johnny, and with him his close friend jaehyun. the five of them - kun, taeil, johnny, jaehyun, and mark - became a tight circle, always with sunshine, easily dispelling any clouds that hung over even just one of their group.

another year passed. the five of them travelled together, to london, to amsterdam. mark was introduced to renjun over many video calls, and renjun was invited many times to come join them. he always refused, saying that his sun and moon were still in korea with his stars and himself.

'he'll come someday,' kun would assure the others, a certainty in his smile that allowed none of them to question how well he knew renjun.

four years went by since kun had moved to france. they went to berlin and venice, sharing hotel rooms and beds and stranger's couches. kun had to pull mark and taeil away by the hair when jaehyun finally got the courage to kiss johnny in rome, and when the two of them came into the hotel room hours after everyone else, kun just handed the two of them hairbrushes and karaoke night went on.

six years passed since kun had first moved to france. he worked at a flower shop now, and daily the sweet old lady who owned the store asked how his fairy was. kun never really knew what to say; he’d just smile and tell her that he was happy. and taeil was happy. he had all these people around him, he had jaehyun and johnny to tease and mark to watch over. he had kun. 

kun just didn’t realize that this wasn’t the way taeil wanted him.

kun had been asleep last night when taeil had showed up to jaehyun’s apartment, tired and needing comfort. he'd been asleep as taeil had laid beside jaehyun on the couch, pouring out his feelings for kun, as johnny tried to convince taeil that kun was just as infatuated. and now, kun's phone was put away as taeil texted him, asking if he was free tonight. as kun helped someone figure out the best flowers for their second anniversary, taeil was deciding to come visit kun.

taeil visited kun and they made quiet conversation, went over plans for their small family's dinner, talked about their next trip and how renjun was to arrive just in time for the dinner. taeil bought flowers for someone and kun, with only half a heart, taught him how to love someone without words. 

he showed him the calla lily, the amaryllis, the evening primroses that broke his heart. 

the rest of the day passed slowly after that, for kun. his flower girl sent him home early with a beautiful alstroemeria. kun wondered if she knew that his fairy was probably off with someone else. 

jaehyun had asked kun to join him at a coffee shop a few streets over, so kun wandered over there, the scent of flowers still strong, alstroemeria resting in his backpack. 

the two of them talked. jaehyun quickly caught onto kun's mood. _what happened?_ he asked, and kun just smiled at him sadly. _an eventful day for someone,_ he replied. so, naturally, jaehyun had to do something for kun’s mood.

they went shopping.

only for like 20 minutes, until jaehyun (kun somehow never caught onto the way jaehyun watched him) got a text from taeil, asking jaehyun to drop kun at taeil’s place.  
jaehyun somehow managed to sway kun into wearing the navy satin shirt he’d bought, keeping it unbottoned over the black shirt he’d thrown on after leaving work.

he still smelled of flowers and jaehyun knew that would comfort taeil. 

only when they parked in front of taeil’s house did kun question where they were. jaehyun confessed that taeil had asked him to drop kun at taeil’s, and jaehyun had agreed. kun frowned, asking that wasn’t taeil on a date with someone? and then jaehyun understood, why kun had been sad, and where taeil had disappeared to that afternoon. so he laughed, told kun to go inside, and that taeil would explain.

kun did so, extremely confused. 

taeil greeted him at the door, looking smaller than usual, dressed a little nicer than usual. the blue of his button up complimented kun’s navy better than expected.

they went inside and kun was hit with how nice everything looked. taeil was neat, anyway, but it looked… cozy. the lights were dimmed, and a slight scent of vanilla filled the air. kun was reminded of the first time he and taeil had come to this place together, late at night after a long day. they’d fallen asleep on taeil’s couch, and he’d woken to taeil tucked under kun’s arms, a blanket over the two of them.

that’s when kun had realized he wouldn’t mind waking to that every day.

taeil had set out a light dinner on the table, a favourite meal of theirs. kun, although perplexed, sat down with taeil and made small talk for a bit, talking about the rest of their day.

at one point, taeil cut off kun in the middle of a sentence with the statement that he had something to tell him and would not, could not hold it in any longer.

taeil poured out all his feelings for kun, the ones kun had never noticed or had brushed off. he talked about the way kun would just tuck his hair back when it got long instead of getting it cut, about how kun took care of all of them even though he wasn’t the oldest. he talked about the wall of polaroids kun had and how shocked taeil had been to see himself on that wall. he talked about how kun had a way of talking that made taeil feel safer than anyone else could make him feel and how kun’s eyes were always warm and welcoming. he talked about kun, and all the small details kun had never seen in himself.

kun’s eyes fell onto the boquet of flowers at the side of the table, facing towards him. calla lilies, amaryllis, and the evening primrose that had broken his heart just so that same afternoon, that seemed to be mending it back together in that exact moment.

kun, not knowing what else exactly to do, stood up and walked over to taeil’s side of the table. taeil froze, just turning so that he and kun were facing each other.

kun took the alstromeria that he’d tucked carefully into a loose pocket and tucked it into taeil’s hair, behind his ear, and let his hand fall to rest against taeil’s cheek, then against his hand. he watched his fairy for a few moments, the shy fear in his eyes, the way the lights reflected just so, the same dancing patterns he’d noticed all those years ago. his eyes fell lower, tracing the curve of taeil’s bottom lip and the way that his mouth just slightly, slightly parted in the middle as he stared in turn at kun. kun, as soft as he possibly could, took taeil’s hand, then the other and his eyes turned back to the fairy’s as he admitted that he had loved taeil for longer than he could think.

a year passed again.

kun was happy. he had all these people around him, he had jaehyun and johnny to tease and mark to watch over. he had taeil.

he had taeil in the way he’d wanted him for years.

kun found that his fairy had a name that felt beautiful when he was able to say he was his, and a voice that was even more enthralling when taeil said _i love you_. all kun seemed to want was to watch taeil as he made everything around the two of them a little more magical. the fairy and the prince gently loved each other, falling more deeply in love as time went on. the two of them fit together, an artic night's dance.

it wasn't black and white, it wasn't a mountain and the ocean. it was more like something shining and something shining a light, like a full moon and a night phlox.

it was like a red rose and a pink carnation, a heliotrope and a blue hyacinth. it was a prince and the fairy he’d chased, not knowing that the fairy was looking for him. it was a prince and the fairy, facing each other, loving each other, like they were meant to be.

they all met renjun eventually, and renjun caught the universe he’d been searching. mark and renjun remained close even after renjun went back, they seemed to understand each other. it made kun glad to see mark enthusiastic.

the five of them - kun, taeil, johnny, jaehyun, and mark - stayed a tight circle, always with sunshine, easily dispelling any clouds that hung over even just one of their group. they travelled, to barcelona, to rome, always enchanted by the sights and spell bound to each other. 

at one point, kun went alone back to seoul, to renjun. he met the universe, the sun and moon, the north star above renjun’s bed. he took a quick liking to the moonchild, and while he was there helped him train his voice a little, painted a little sunrise and sunset for renjun. he left back for france with a full heart but a longing in his chest for his fairy, waiting for him. 

the prince and the fairy were happy together. the two of them lived happily ever after that. 

they were complete.

**Author's Note:**

> so... thoughts?
> 
> which pairing do we want to hear about next? maybe some johnjae sentiment? or would you like to hear about the boy mark left in canada? who was it that left jaemin behind? what were chensung doing as renmin chased each other? or...maybe a seperate tangent? there's someone else in france whom we haven't met, you know. do tell.
> 
>   
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/gothdejun)


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